On Monday, February 26th, the Mason City girls’ basketball team competed in the 4A State Quarterfinals against Grinnell. Although they may have lost the game 51-70, the team represented Mason City Community Schools extremely well. Senior Hannah Faktor, who had a very successful season, said, “It’s been a great four years and this is the perfect way to end it. We’ve had a really good year, and I’m very proud of all of the girls on the team.” The pep band, Mohawk Power, had the opportunity to go down to the game and play our school fight song in the massive Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and the student section was filled to the brim with countless students cheering on the team.
Although the girls basketball team has a history of success, things haven’t always been this way. MCHS Alumnus Pam Stephenson recounts, “In 1974, as sophomores, my friend and I advocated for a girls basketball team at MCHS and were faced with a lot of adversity. We were told that we could never compete with other schools that had basketball programs for years ,and we could never bring in enough money to support our team compared to the boys’ team. Nevertheless, we persisted. It took a group of girls who really wanted to play basketball and our parents going to the school board and the city council to finally make it happen. I still follow the girls’ basketball team at MCHS and am proud of all of their accomplishments and proving those original naysayers wrong. This years Mohawk team has shown heart and determination and continued the legacy of a stellar girls basketball program at MCHS. ” All in all, congratulations to the MCHS Girls basketball team on yet another successful season!